The Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) has taken an initiative to make the newly-formed mass rapid transit (MRT) company functional paving the way for successful implementation of the first mass transport system in the city.
Officials said the office of the Dhaka Mass Transport Company (DMTC) under the DTCA planned to call the first meeting of its board of directors at the end of the current month to delegate power.
"As it is not possible to make the company fully functional unless the institutional development plan is finalised by a consultant, the board meeting will take decisions to carry out the interim work," said an official.
The government formed the DMTC under a law last year. It has a capital of Tk 100 billion with the 98.8 per cent stake held by the Road Division under the ministry of communication (MoC). The remaining stake will equally be held by the DTCA, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the ministries of finance, railway, home, local government, power division and the DMTC.
The board of directors will comprise shareholders who are designated officers. Two private sector members have also been proposed to sit on the board. They are from the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and the Civil Engineering Department of the BUET.
The officials said the road division secretary, ex-officio chairman of the board, would chair the meeting to decide on the delegation of power, including the capacity of the managing director (MD) to spend money until the company begins its full-fledged operation.
"In the first board meeting the acting managing director of the cent-percent government-owned company will be appointed so that he can take the day-to-day decisions too," the official said preferring not to be named.
He said the acting MD would be responsible for carrying out necessary work until appointment of an MD on finalisation of the company rules. The MRT project's institutional development consultant would design the company and its functionally in details, including qualification and manpower.
The first MRT line, commonly known as MRT line-6, has been planned to be built on the elevated way from Uttara to Motijheel via Pallabi which will be implemented and operated by the DMTC after the consultant for institutional development finalises the design.
DTCA sources said selection of the institutional development consultant would be finalised by the current month.
The government has taken initiatives to set up three mass transport systems under its strategic transport plan. So far two companies -MRT and Bus Rapid Transit-have been formed with a view to implementing and operating a high-passenger capacity transport system to ease the city's chaotic traffic congestions.
The companies have been formed as per recommendation of both the project's development partners-Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Asian Development Bank. They will be run by relevant professionals under an open market system.
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